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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says he has already identified his summer transfer targets, and has started work on strengthening his squad ahead of next season.

The 71-year-old believes Manchester United has a solid foundation to its squad but says the club will again try to be competitive in the transfer market after landing Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa last summer.

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"Hopefully the players we bring into the club in the next year or so will be of the quality we need," Sir Alex told the club's official magazine.

The Scot wants to compliment his young talent with additional quality to help United retain its title against challenges from big spending Manchester City and Chelsea.

"We're competitive in the market - we're not Chelsea or Manchester City in terms of money but we're competitive," he told the magazine.

"We've been doing a bit of work on that over the last three or four months, targeting who the players are that we feel could enhance us, make us better or help us maintain the level we're at."

Currently the club has a handful of players 23 or under, including David De Gea, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck, to name a few. Shinji Kagawa and Chicharito are 24, Jonny Evans is 25 and Wayne Rooney is hitting his peak at 27, according to the coach.

"You have to look at the structure of the club at present, in terms of the number of first-team players we have at 23 or under," Ferguson said, pointing out that the older players - such as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand are approaching the last stages of their careers.